Testimonials

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Here is how my clients describe me.  Many years of working in business development have left me exquisitely sensitive to matters of confidentiality.  I’ve anonymised their identities. If you need to speak with any of these individuals, please ask me.

"Maria supported us with several Board level appointments. Her approach is straight forward in every aspect.  She always invested time in meeting all relevant internal stakeholders before embarking on the search. She very clearly understood the values, the culture & team dynamics- to ensure best fit with any of her subsequent recommendations. This was absolutely key to making a success of those senior level appointments. Maria is intuitive, showed great empathy & integrity in all our interactions & was a very careful guardian of our brand in the market. I respect Maria immensely - she was a great partner on a number of projects & I would not hesitate to work with her again." Vice President Human Resources, FTSE 250

"Professional engagements are at their most successful when you see your advisors as true partners to your business. Maria’s technical and managerial background made her especially well suited to helping us understand, firstly, what we really needed for a senior recruit to help us through a stage of rapid growth and, secondly, then followed up with a range of compelling candidates. We were delighted with the whole process and believe that Maria’s diligence and understanding ensured we attracted a high quality recruit to help us achieve our aspirations."  CEO, Medical Devices company

“Maria has carried out searches for our company at senior executive   and board level, the latter both executive and non-executive. Her strengths   start with understanding and interpreting the brief for the positions. By detailed questioning, she pulls out the big picture on the company, its management style and ethos, and the expectations for the position.   Consequently, both sides to the search commence with a very clear brief to work with, and from the client viewpoint, confidence that the recruiter understands the business requirement.   Maria manages the client process well, by regular updates and progress checks. In each case, the search has resulted in a number of high quality candidates from which to select. In what can sometimes be a protracted process in arranging in-company assessments, she is effective in keeping “warm” candidates who are in the frame.   

I would have no hesitation in recommending Maria for appropriate assignments, and would happily work with her again on future opportunities.”  Chairman PLC

“Maria engages well with the business, understands our culture and requirements and has recruited three top class senior managers. She has a warm empathetic personality and provides a prompt and efficient service.”  CEO of FTSE 250 pharmaceuticals company with long track record of sustained growth

"Maria was tasked with finding us a Non Exec Director with a particular experience in pharma but also someone who would fit in with the strong team ethic of the Board. She listened carefully to our requirements and sourced a diverse and interesting list of candidates of a very high standard. It forced us to consider exactly what qualities we were looking for and our eventual appointee was excellent, is fitting in extremely well and contributing greatly to our discussions. I would unreservedly recommend her."  Chairman PLC

"I worked with Maria on a critical hire for our board. She produced the broadest range of high quality candidates and, this is what separated her from the crowd- the quality of her insight into each candidate. Her reports were impeccable in their completeness and insight. Maria found exactly the right person for us particularly in fit and chemistry.   Working with Maria doesn’t feel at all like a sales-driven process. She takes a bespoke, dedicated approach. I would recommend her for senior, more involved searches from Senior Director to Chairman and NED."      CEO Biotech company

“I worked with Maria at a time when I was looking to increase my responsibilities and build a strong career.  I found Maria to be extremely approachable, professional and I really found value in the time taken to explore my career path in order to make the next role the “right role and indeed the right fit” for myself as well as the company.  Maria navigated this very well and nearly twelve months on I am very happy, motivated and delivering results in my ideal business environment. I would recommend Maria and her business to you.”

“Maria is thoughtful, worldly and has the strong interest of both sides in the process. She is extremely conscientious, organizationally savvy, trustworthy, and intelligent. I trust her implicitly. She knows what a good executive, a good company and a good fit look like. While we were not able to find a good board role, I was pleased with the process, open communications and also the great opportunities. I would recommend her to senior execs in healthcare looking for great opportunities and I recommend her for companies looking for thoughtful and high performing execs.”

“I’ve known Maria for several years, initially at GSK and then through her other roles in recruitment.  As a BD professional, she was insightful and thoughtful about the groups and individuals she worked with.  She took the time to listen and also engage in both a professional and at a personal level, getting to know the ‘whole’ person. She has adapted the same approach to her recruitment career.  I have worked with her on several searches and she has always been candid as to where she sees a personality fit and where she sees some gaps.  I must say her predictions on match or not match have come true 100% of the time in my own personal experience.  I believe the time she takes at initial meetings to get to know candidates pays off in later stages of a search by minimizing any wasted time on the part of the recruiting executive."

"Maria has a gift of empathy and understanding of an individual’s goals, drivers and barriers.  She does this on both sides of the recruiting equation and tries her utmost to match candidates for any given role.  She follows up well and ensures things are going smoothly after the initial on-boarding and transition period.  I would use her services for senior exec recruitment and for Board roles where a balance of both technical and interpersonal skills is crucial.”

“The process was extremely well managed throughout, with good communication at each stage. Maria offered me succinct and useful advice in preparation for meetings and actively followed up to share feedback between both parties. Maria portrayed a calm, good humoured approach at all times and took time to understand my thoughts as a candidate to ensure there would be a good fit with my future employer.  A lovely experience overall!”

“Maria has integrity at the heart of how she does business - she fully researches both organisation and candidate in order to discover the true viability of the fit and will not take short cuts or try to shoe horn a candidate in order to finish an assignment. Her extensive network, as a result of massive experience, especially in healthcare, gives her unique access to a wide range of candidates and her well-known integrity means that all are happy to engage with her.”

“As both a potential candidate and client, feedback to candidates is a real hot button for me. Maria did feed back promptly to me as a candidate and I know for a fact she did the same to candidates in our own commissioned search. It's surprising how many apparently blue chip firms do not do this. Candidates can feel rejected. This weeks abandoned candidate could be next week's client!”

“Maria was very good at understanding what I was looking from a NED position and had a really good grasp of the position she was looking to fill and the potential match.  She spent time with the individual Board members and as a result I felt very well briefed before meeting the Chairman and other members of the Board.”

“Maria has a positive outlook, is persistent, she builds rapport rapidly and can work at different levels of the organisation. She understands needs of clients and candidates.”

 "Maria draws on a career already distinguished by first-hand insight into corporate behaviours and competences, particularly in business development, to facilitate alignments of people within corporate structures. Maria develops an informed understanding of the business strategies and settings into which people will be placed, adopting a considered approach with purposeful focus on the key elements of role so that selected parties make valued and sustainable contributions. 

She brings an acute awareness of complexities inherent in contemporary business, and the necessity for alignment of interests, in the team setting, contributed by diverse personalities from different backgrounds and with varied and evolving ambitions. Maria adopts a uniquely insightful emphasis on candidate credentials, embracing professional competences, employment history, communicative skills and especially personal culture, and individual sensitivities, preferences and “goodness of fit”

Finally, Maria executes a positive recruitment process differentiated from the commoditization that potential clients see as an increasing trend of certain larger HR organisations, via a small, dedicated and personally-directed business with a strong experiential dimension associated with long employment in the healthcare industry."

Chairman and former CEO, UK biotechnology company